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“What’s so funny?”
“Odd choice of words, Basil.”
He frowned. Then his eyebrows shot upward. “Oh. Oh! Ohh…” Dawning realization. “While I was… Really? While I was… that’s… that’s kind of wrong.”
“Basil, please focus. We can talk about that later,”
“-but awesome. Wrong, but awesome.”
“Damnit Basil,” I growled.
“Right, the fucking dream. Lemme think.” He did just that for a moment, swishing the wine around in his glass.
“I dreamt I snuck out my bedroom window. There was a lady outside, she was calling me. Whispering, actually, yeah… she was whispering. Told me to come out. I crawled out the window, and she picked me up. Except her hands weren’t hands. They were like paws.” He made claws with his hands to illustrate. “I remember that her eyes were orange. Really pretty eyes. They had slits like a cat. Like yours. I remember thinking that werewolves had dog eyes, not cat eyes. And I was going to ask her about it, but she kissed me. On the shoulder.” Here, he motioned to the area on his person where I had also “kissed.” I noticed the recent punctures looked mostly healed.
“And I remember I wanted to cry… and I wanted to laugh, at the same time. It hurt and tickled, and I asked her to stop. And she did. And then I woke up.” He shrugged. “That’s it. Happy?”
“No, but that will suffice.” Much of what he had said troubled me. I had my hypothesis… but I kept it to myself. Surely, it couldn’t have been…
I filled my plate from the stale remains of dinner, and ate without much relish. Basil followed suite, shoveling sustenance down his throat with ravenous appetite.
I had surmised, at this point, that the boy was not human… so it wasn’t technically cannibalism he was committing.  I did not answer him, though, when he asked me what kind of ham he was eating.
“’Cause I’ve never had anything like this. It’s fantastic!”
“Thank you, I baked it myself.” And I left it at that.

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Chapter 8

We did not speak much of what was to be done. We did not much discuss what had already come to pass. He stayed. That was good enough for both of us.
He had been visiting from the mainland. Northern California to be exact. He had left his luggage at the hotel. I offered to send for his bags, but he refused. He said he felt as if they were not his anymore. That his whole life theretofore was not his own. That he had been playing someone else’s role. I wanted to feel touched, but his words did not rest easy in my mind.

Sometimes, I think online shopping was invented by and for Moon Children. Anything a heart could possibly desire can be bought over the internet. It was through this method that I ordered new clothes for my new… my new pet.
Might as well admit it. I sheltered him. I fed him. I… entertained him. I had fed from his veins. He was officially my pet.

---

Basil ascended the main staircase with a mug of hot cider in each hand. He was still diurnal; and therefore I was kept awake for most of both days following his last change. I accepted the offering of hot beverage, and sipped carefully as I continued my work. I had missed several meetings, and had lost out on some very limited opportunities on the stock market. The screen kept blurring up on me; my eyes were refusing to focus correctly. I had all my conferences over the phone those two days. I probably looked a mess.

“Fress, I’m going to go get us some grub, k?”
“Yes, whatever you want.”
“Where do you keep your bacon? I couldn’t find it in the fridge.”
I was becoming aggravated at his useless questions. I didn’t want bacon, I wanted blood. There were several maids downstairs the day previous, cleaning up the remains of the feast party (I had cleaned up the gory bits myself, it was exhausting). I had lusted after them. All of them. I was famished, parched, empty. No. I did not want bacon. 
“I think there’s some down cellar. In the freezer.” I was fairly certain there was, anyway. I didn’t want to waste any more brain power going over the inventory at the moment. Anything to make the boy happy and shut him up.
 “Alright.” He leaned in and planted a loving peck on my pale cheek. I couldn’t help but smile a little.